1. defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch -- (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have defamed me!" "The article in the paper sullied my reputation")
2. smirch, besmirch -- (smear so as to make dirty or stained)

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The ermine will die rather than besmirch itself. - from The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, Complete by Leonardo Da Vinci